PRINCETON, NJ -- Exemplifying a major partisan divide in modern politics, Democrats react significantly more positively to the term "federal government" than they do to the term "capitalism," while the opposite is true for Republicans. But both Democrats and Republicans are highly positive about the terms "small business," "free enterprise," and "entrepreneurs."

These findings are based on a Nov. 18-19 update of a January 2010 Gallup poll question asking respondents if they had a positive or negative image of each of seven economically related terms.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic leaners also differ in how they react to the terms "big business" and "socialism." Republicans are more positive about the former; Democrats are more positive about the latter.

The differences between Democrats and Republicans in how they view these terms provide an important window into today's political realities. Democrats have a more positive image of the federal government than they do of capitalism, by a 20-percentage-point margin, while Republicans are more positive about capitalism than the federal government, by a 45-point margin. This difference is not surprising -- particularly given that a Democrat currently occupies the White House -- but underscores the divergence in the ways in which Republicans and Democrats look at the appropriate role of the government in relationship to business.

Additionally, Democrats have roughly similar reactions to capitalism (55% positive) and socialism (53%), while Republicans are much more positive about the former than the latter, by 72% to 23%, respectively.